Netflix, Disney+, Viu, Prime Video, and Vidio are few paid video streaming platforms or Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVoD) popular in Indonesia. According to research by the Indonesian Science Institute (LIPI) and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, the SVoD viewers have significantly increased over the past three years, with 50.2% of respondents starting their SVoD subscriptions since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, the Millennials and the Gen Z aged between 18-35 year old, are willing to pay up to IDR250,000 per month to subscribe for paid video streaming platforms. Proudly calling themselves movie buffs, K-drama lovers, binge-watchers, or otaku/weebs, they regularly surf SVoD apps daily to seek entertainment and be the first to watch trendy shows.

SVoD offers freedom to its enthusiasts through diverse and up-to-date content, easy access to rewatch and share content with the broader audience, and allows interactive communication with content creators. The relatively loose censorship allows content creators to breathe fresh air when delivering their stories. Through their work, content creators can change perceptions and behaviors and provide clarifications. The documentary film “The Social Dilemma” that is famous for its tagline, “If you’re not paying for the product, then you’re the product”, has successfully shaped a more critical, wise, and cautious mind in using the internet, digital technology, and social media.

The emergence of SVoD as a new entertainment platform directly impacts cinema attendance. A data shows that from 2019 to 2020, there was a 60% decrease in the number of cinema attendance due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This condition is worsened in 2021, with cinema attendance dropping by 80%. In contrast, revenue from SVoD subscriptions in Indonesia reached USD 411 million in 2021, with a user penetration rate of 16%, which is projected to increase to 20% by 2025. This surging figure has led many high-quality and award winning films to forego theatrical releases and switch to SVoD, as proven by movie titles such as “Jakarta vs Everybody”, “Penyalin Cahaya”, “Maestro”, “Don’t Look Up”, “Marriage Story”, and the live-action adaptation of the famous anime series “Rurouni Kenshin.”

Does this mean the end of the cinema? Like billions of people worldwide, film creators need to adapt and redefine their target audience and movie enthusiasts in the era of modern technology. If, in the past, the cinemas competed to create unforgettable watching experiences through the sophistication of their studios, now home cinemas or theater facilities are available on gadgets at affordable prices. Although no precise data shows the audience’s habits shifting from cinemas to SVoD, this phenomenon is a certainty due to the globalization of digital access.

Besides adapting to the digital era, movie creators can leverage the advantages of SVoD as a message delivery platform. With subscribers from various backgrounds and the power to reach millions of global viewers, communication is aimed at socializing, persuading, and educating an idea, while at the same time entertaining. Not only within limited reach, content broadcasted via SVoD can influence international audiences with social, cultural, values, and important occasions worldwide, through its audio-visual magnitude.

Furthermore, filmmakers can establish unlimited collaboration with SVoD owners and the network, triggering new films where box office movies are made into series. The conventional 3×60-minute movie duration or the classic move franchise, now can be elaborated in spin-off series and be enjoyed more through series such as “Star Trek: Prodigy” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” season’s episodes.

Instead of movies being a medium to express idealism, SVoD opens the content creators to explore audience’s emotions through diverse message payloads. In the future, SVoD has a great potential to be utilized by filmmakers to publish the full materials of a movie, as a channel for mass communication without being pressed by ticket sales performance, viewer’s ratings, or strict censorships.

Writer: Adeanti Prasti
Editor: Dewi Bastina